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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29465049">whole lotta love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/showedupatyourparty/pseuds/showedupatyourparty'>showedupatyourparty</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Castiel and Dean Winchester are Claire Novak's Parents, F/F, Lesbian Claire Novak, M/M, Sappy Toasts, Wedding Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:40:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29465049</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/showedupatyourparty/pseuds/showedupatyourparty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The heartfelt, gooey speeches have been going on for a while now, and there’s finally a lull where it feels like an appropriate time for the sort-of daughter of the grooms to get up and say some words. Public speaking was never really Claire’s jam, but she figures, hey, she’s already prepared a speech, and it would be a shame to waste it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester, Kaia Nieves/Claire Novak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>161</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>whole lotta love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="">
<p></p><div class=""><p>Claire waits until she’s drunk enough so that she doesn’t lose her nerve, but when she’s still sober enough to form a coherent sentence, to make her toast. The heartfelt, gooey speeches have been going on for a while now (starting with Sam’s annotated powerpoint presentation, projected on a tarp at the back of the Roadhouse, titled <em>Do You Realize How Long I’ve Had To Put Up With This Shit?</em>), and there’s finally a lull where it feels like an appropriate time for the sort-of daughter of the grooms to get up and say some words. It takes a little urging from Kaia, as public speaking was never really Claire’s jam (“come <em>on</em>, Claire, I’ve seen you take on monsters from another dimension, don’t tell me you’re afraid to<em> talk in front of people.</em>”) but she figures, hey, she’s already prepared a speech, and it would be a shame to waste it.</p></div><div class=""><p>So she stands up and tinkles her fork against her wine glass (which is technically an old mason jar, but it has wine in it, so whatever) like they do in movies, and unfolds the notecard she had stashed in her bra. </p></div><div class=""><p>“Hey, guys,” she says nervously, once all eyes are on her, and it’s too late to chicken out. “So, uh, I wrote some stuff down on a card, but it kind of got soaked in my boob sweat, so I guess I’ll just wing it.” That gets a laugh, and Claire relaxes a little. She has most of what she wants to say in her head already.</p></div></div><div class="">
  <p>“Okay, so, um, the first thing I thought when I heard you guys were getting married, was like… y’all are idiots.” When she laughs a little, Dean laughs along with her and Cas still hasn’t stopped smiling since the ceremony began, so she continues, encouraged. “I mean, you guys have basically already been together for, what, ten years?”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Twelve!” Sam shouts, spurring another wave of good-natured chuckles throughout the crowd.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“Okay, twelve years,” Claire corrects with a giggle. If she snorts a little, it's only because she's drunk and no one can hold that against her. “Twelve years and you’re just now getting hitched? I mean, come on.” Claire is hit with another irrational wave of self-consciousness, and so she looks down at her notes, smudged beyond comprehension as they are. “But I get it, y’know? I grew up in Illinois, religious family and all, so I never really…” she clears her throat, and takes a sip from her champagne glass, to keep the liquid courage coursing through her veins. “I didn't really know, for a long time, what… what other types of love could look like.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>“I used to think of love, of marriage, I guess, as this like… unattainable thing. That white-picket fence normalcy that I knew I could never have, because— because I’m<em> not </em>normal. And I thought that love was just… just meant for someone else, who wasn’t me.” Claire smirks and giggles again, realizing she just paraphrased Smash Mouth (okay, it was originally a Monkees song, but Claire was a 90s baby, so sue her for preferring the <em>Shrek</em> version.) “But, um, I think it’s safe to say that love is not fucking normal. I mean, it is but— not the way I always thought it was. Love is fucking crazy.” She sees that crinkle start to form between Cas’s eyebrows and makes a mental note to dial back the F-bombs, for Jack’s sake. “It’s intense. It’s a wild f— <em>ffff</em>freakin’ ride and it’s,” Claire swallows nervously and averts her eyes from the newlyweds for a second to look at Kaia. “Um, it’s worth it. Once you get past all the crap, it’s— it really is worth it, and it’s awesome, and it’s crazy and stupid, and it hurts like hell, but when you find that person— find those <em>people</em>, people who love you unconditionally and accept you exactly the way you are, it’s so freakin’ worth it.” She risks a glance away from Kaia, looks out at Jody and Alex, Donna and Patience, at Jack and Kevin and Charlie and Sam and Eileen, and finally, back to Cas and Dean. Tears are already running down Cas’s cheeks, and Dean looks like he’s definitely about to start crying next. She looks at the both of them when she says, “You guys… you were kind of the first ones to show me that. So, thanks for that, I guess.”</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>And yup, Dean’s crying now too, and Claire doesn’t think she can take the emotion that wells up inside her, so she takes another swig of wine and promptly changes course. “Anyway, um, so to the possessed corpse of my dad and the dude who almost shot my girlfriend that one time, congrats, you old geezers. I wish y’all nothing but a life of happiness and all that, watching jeopardy and doing crossword puzzles or whatever it is that old gay married couples do for fun. Minigolf, maybe,” she adds as an afterthought, and doesn’t miss the way Dean grins at that, like they have their own private father-daughter inside joke together, even though it’s literally just minigolf.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She’s blushing up to her ears when she finally sits back down, and she can’t tell if it’s from the wine or the getting-gushy-in-public. Kaia rubs the small of her back and reassures her that she did great. She downs the rest of her champagne and sneaks away with Kaia and Kevin later to hotbox the bathroom. She runs into Jody and a very happy-drunk Donna again after that, and Donna gushes about how absolutely beautiful, just <em>beautiful</em>, her speech was, and Claire still feels like a total doof for getting sappy in front of all those people, but Jody seems so proud of her that she doesn’t even comment in that annoying mom way on how much Claire <em>reeks</em>.</p>
</div><div class="">
  <p>She can’t fully shake the embarrassment of being emotionally vulnerable for the rest of the night, but when Cas and Dean find her at the end of the reception they both wrap her in a hug. Cas thanks her very sincerely for her kind words, and Dean pats her on the shoulder and says, “love you, kid,” and yeah, Claire thinks, it’s all totally worth it.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>happy destiel wedding! hmu on tumblr @donnasweett</p></blockquote></div></div>
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